Owner of the oldest business continually owned and operated by one family in Oklahoma

Harris Penner is the owner of Penner Angus Ranch, the oldest business continually owned and operated by one family in Oklahoma. He is also the great-great-grandson of the first Chickasaw Nation Governor, Cyrus Harris.

Penner Angus Ranch was established in 1854 on the land where Penner’s ancestors settled after the great removal. In the early 1890s, Governor Cyrus Harris’s daughter married Felix Penner, and the two expanded the ranch to include Angus cattle in 1912. The Penner Angus Ranch, which has been passed down for generations, has survived drought and deadly tornadoes over the years.

In 1995, the ranch was honored with the Oklahoma Centennial Farm and Ranch award. At that time, the ranch was reported to encompass almost 5,000 acres of land developed around the Penner family’s original Chickasaw allotments. For Harris Penner, the ranch is a symbol of his proud Chickasaw heritage.